Consultations in Barcelona one week a month

Next days of consultation from 27/05/19 to 31/05/2019

What is Osteopathy ?

I have borrowed this headline from the Western France Society of osteopaths that had organized a congress I attended about this subject. After three days of quite interesting debates the question “What is osteopathy?” was still open so as to respect A.T Still’s wish to see osteopathy in never-ending evolution.

I mean it’s quite useless to try to sum up what osteopathy is in a few lines on a website or on a blog. And yet I am going to make you see the founding ideas around which it was built. I do hope I will not betray AT Still’s thought.

The human being is made of functional units which represent a whole. For example a cell is a functional unit that breathes and feeds, breaks down nutrients, evacuates them like all the cells around them which are going to make a tissue which in its turn, will become a functional unit. The latter will fit in an organ, a bone and will make another functional unit still connected to the previous ones and which will fit in another functional unit and so on…
If one of the cells dysfunctions, it may disrupt the neighbouring ones, disrupting by the way the local environment then the regional one, and even more distant functional units. But as all these cells are interconnected, some other cells can rescue the failing unit. It means that your body is able to self-heal and to adapt (for example when you cut yourself, you coagulate, when you are wounded, the tissue heals spontaneously). Sometimes these self-healing powers may be exceeded, that’s where osteopathy plays a role. A T Still who has never mentioned this self-healing strength, spoke instead of Nature and insisted on the fact that it’s Nature that heals all wounds, the osteopath is just here to help it express itself anew.
So the structure (anatomy) and the function (physiology) are two functional units which are closely linked and inseparable. A T Still said that “Osteopathy is this science which helps the body to restore its normal balance between anatomy and physiology.
Any dysfunction of the musculoskeletal framework will then create a disruption of the physiology either locally or in the distance impairing health”, that is to say the self-healing powers.
The osteopath will then try to understand where these two units are no longer interconnected, and then lose their capacity of working together harmoniously and by the way open doors to disease. He will try to know the true reason of this disconnection by carrying out a gentle hands-on examination in order to determine the area of the biggest dysfunction. Thanks to this examination, he will then decide which technique is the most appropriate to re-establish the self-healing powers, locally and globally. The functional units will then have a good blood fluidic flow, a good nerve function and a normal mobility.

When teaching, A.T Still said that “harmony is where obstructions don’t exist”.
Osteopathy tries to give back to the body its self-healing powers rather than treat a symptom. As for the symptom, A.t Still said “treating a symptom would be as strange for an osteopath as taking care of the smoke rather than putting out the fire for a fireman.”

The unfolding of a visit to an osteopath

Most osteopaths will start the session by asking you questions to know which types of diseases you may have got, if you have medical treatments at the moment, the surgeries you may have undergone and if you have also suffered from traumas. All these questions are meant to eliminate all the pathologies that osteopathy can’t treat (cancer, multiple sclerosis…)

Then the osteopath will start a gentle hands-on examination, making some tests which will enable him to spot the areas whose mobility is not dysfunctional. According to the results of these tests, he will then decide which areas he has to treat in priority.
The osteopath can use different tools to get self-healing capacities back to your body, from structural mobilizing joints (those which make a small noise which can be compared to the one you get when you crack your knuckles) going through functional mobilization, working on fascia, on joints, cranial working, fluidic working, visceral working and so on…
Most of the time, you will be asked to remove some outer clothing even if you come to see him for a migraine. Indeed whatever the symptom, the osteopath will carry out a complete examination since your head may not be the cause of your migraine. It’s Nature that works and Nature often needs time.
Your osteopath will then explain to you that some days will be necessary to feel better and for the same reason he will tell you that it is no use having a lot of sessions, it is wiser to wait between 3 or 4 weeks between 2 sessions. He will maybe explain to you as well that there may be some reactions. Indeed you may be tired or stiff.

Who can see an osteopath and why?

You can see an osteopath whatever your age. In some maternity wards we can see some babies just after they were born if their birth was a bit difficult and I even had a patient who was 100 years old.

We treat the malfunctions of tissue mobility that impair the physiological functions and disturb the self-healing capacities.
Most of the time patients come to see us because they suffer from musculoskeletal pains either traumatic ones or emotional ones (the questions at the beginning of the examination will have eliminated all the pains from organic origin like tumors, metastases…) all the problems that refer to ENT (rhinitis, frequent ear infections..) anxiety, irritability, sleep disturbances, headaches, migraines, colic and sleep disturbances for infants. Of course this list is not exhaustive.

Who am I?

I am graduated from the European osteopathy College (France). I have practised osteopathy since 1991. Since that date I have always carried out training periods in order to improve my practice. I carried out a training of biodynamic osteopathy for a lot of years, I have also carried out training periods to treat babies. For several years now I have studied in the Study and Research association of osteopathy. In 2002 when osteopathy was accepted as a therapy in France, I could get my Adeli number which allows me to bear the title of osteopath.

At the moment when I am writing these words, the UFOF has just won a great victory by getting new texts to be graduated as an osteopath after five-year studies after the baccalaureate, which represents 4860 hours of training among which 1500 will be spent in clinical practice.

I was invited to come and work in Barcelona in Colegi by some friends of mine who are comedians, producers, drama teachers. I was fascinated by this city and little by little I felt like coming to work there regularly. I am glad to be able to welcome you today in my second osteopathy cabinet.

Health practices

Nature does its work but sometimes it’s better to help it.

Some practices can do it like yoga or meditation, taïchi… As for me I tend to advise those I practise since they have really helped me either in my professional or private life. I mean Aikido and Aiki-Shin-Taiso ( KRH ).
In Barcelona you will have the possibility to practise at Ume no Dojo.

Lessons for adults and children over 13 years
Viladomat 76, Sant Antoni

Some very nice place

Margarit, 43 - Poble Sec

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